Roll-film-developing apparatus.



B. J. NASIEF & F. F. DORSEY.

ROLL FILM DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28, 1915.

1,156,922. Patented Oct. 19, 1915 figlollo H 13 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN J. NASIEF AND FARNUM F. DORSEY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGN- ORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ANSCO COMPANY, OF BINGHAM'ION,

NEW YORK, A CORPORATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

Application filed April 28, 1915. Serial No. 24,589.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN J. NASIEF and FARNUM F. DORSEY, being, respectively, a subject of the Sultan of Turkey and a citizen of the United States, and residents of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Roll-Film- DevelopingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus in which, as a preparation for the development of a roll-film, the film is rewound from the film-reel upon a support of some character for retaining the film in a suitable position. or condition for subjection to the developing-solution. Such a support, usually comprises a flexible apron for holding the film with sufficient space between its layers or turns for the admission of the developing solution, but the particular character of the support in question is not essential to the present invention.

The object of the invention is to permit, as an incident to the rewinding operation, the separation of the paper backing-strip from the film-strip, so that during the developing operation the backing strip shall not be in contact with the film. It has been found that when the backing-strip is in contact with the film the dye, by which the backing-strip is colored, becomes more or less dissolved and tends to stain the film, and as this dye is of a non-actinic color, the stains so produced cause blemishes in the prints made from such film.

To the foregoing end the present invention comprises means for receiving the backing-strip and for retaining it separate from the film-strip during the rewinding of the latter. As incidental to the operation of such means, the invention also comprises, in its preferred form, a modification in the film-package. itself, which facilitates the proper preparation of the backing-strip for the action upon it of the means in question. To this end the invention comprises a filmpackage or reel in which the usual backingstrip, extending beyond the advance end of the film-strip so as to constitute a leader for the latter, is provided with a line of demarcation, preferably in the form of perforations or a weakened line of some character,

located adjacent the advance-end of the film-strip, so that after the film has been secured to the backing-strip in the usual manner, as a reliminary to the rewinding operation, the acking-strip may be conveniently severed at the line in question, so that after that portion of the backing-strip which constitutes the leader has been rewound in advance of the film, the main portion of the backing-strip, which is contiguous with the film in the film-roll, may be deflected and guided away from the film during the rewinding of. the latter.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of rewinding-apparatus embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan-view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a film-roll, partly unwound, and constructed in accordance with the present invention.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a rewinding-apparatus of which the eneral form and construction are well nown. Within a light-tight casing 7 two spindles 5 and 6 are journaled, these spindles being provided with cranks 8 and 9 by which they may be turned. --The spindle 5 is used to support the usual flexible developing-apron 10, while the spindle 6 is employed to wind the apron and the film-strip together, this spindle being provided with light-tight metal flanges 14 at its ends. The ordinary film-reel 13 is supported in the casing'by adjustable bearing-members 11 and 12, and after the reel has been so mounted, the outer end of the paper backing-strip is attached to the spindle 6, together with the end of the apron 10, and this spindle is then rotated to perform the rewinding operation. As so far described, the rewinding apparatus is of a well-known form.

In a film-package as usually constructed a continuous opaque backing-strip 15 of paper is wound with the film-strip 16, as shown particularly in Fig. 3, and extends beyond the film-strip at both ends, so as to provide leaders for use both in the camera and in the developing-apparatus. The filmstrip is also provided with a transverse fastening-strip of gummed paper 17, which adheres to the advance-end of the film-strip but is left loose from the backing-strip until the film is to be rewound. Prior to the rewinding operation this fastening strip 17 is to be moistened and gummed down to the backing-strip, so that usually the filmstrip and the backing-strip are rewound to gether.

In accordance with the present invention strip to the backing strip the user severs the leading portion of the backing-strip from the body of the strip, on the line 18, by either tearing or cutting it, and then sticks the connecting-strip to the leading portion, and, finally, rewinds the backingstrip on the reel for one or more turns. The

. reel is then placed in the rewinding-apparatus in the usual manner, and the backin strip connected with the rewinding-spindle 6. When this spindle is turned the part of the backing-strip in advance of the line of severance, which part is designated in the drawings by the reference-number 19, constitutes a leader inthe usual manner, but as soon as this leader has been sufficiently unwound from the reel to release the part of the backing-strip in the rear of the line of severance, the advance-end of this part, being loose, can be separated from the film and guided to a position away from the rewinding spindle. This operation is facilitated by the tendency of the paper to separate itself from the film-strip, owing to its inherent elasticity. To insure such separation of the paper from the film, and to provide a separate receptacle for the paper, a guide 20 is employed, in the form of a metal plate mounted beneath the film-reel on a pivot-rod 21, about which it may swing upwardly, and a spring 22, cooperating with the guide, presses it lightly against the surface of the filmon the reel. Accordingly, the paper passes in front of the guide 20, as shown in Fig. 1, and is thus separated from the film. As the rewinding operation is continued the paper tends to curl up in the space below the reel and the guide 20, and to insure that it shall not be accidentally drawn into engagement with the apron and thus wound up therewith, a second guide 23 is employed, in the form of a resilient sheetmetal plate which is fixed to the bottom of the casing and extends upwardly into a position adjacent the stretch of film between the film-reel and the rewinding-spindle. As the diameter of the roll formed by the 'paper and the film increases, this guide 23 yields so as not to interfere with the rewind ing operation.

leader at the rear end of the film-strip, and

the two parts of the backing-strip are then wound either with or upon the apron so that at the completion of the rewinding operation no further operation on the part of the user is necessary. .Since the backlngstrip as so wound is not in contact with any part of the film, except at the extreme ends of the latter, no staining of the film will occur, but if it be considered desirable the apron may be carefully unwound enou h to permit the paper to be detached from the rear end of the film-strip without exposin the later, so that, except for the forward portion or leader 19 of the backing-strip, no part of the backing-strip necessarily enters the developing solution.

While the guide-plates above described constitute simple and effective means for controlling the movement of the backingstrip during the rewinding operation, the invention is not limited to embodiment in this specific form, but may be embodied in various other forms within the nature of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.

l'Ve claim 1. In roll-film developing apparatus, the combination, with a reel-support and a rewinding device, of means for engaging the end of the backing-strip as the film is unwound from the reel and automatically separating it from the film while the film is rewound.

2. I11 roll-film developing apparatus, the combination, with a reel-supportand a rewinding glevice, of a guide located adjacent the film-reel and adapted to enter between the roll and the end of the backing-strip so as to separate the latter automatically from the film as the film is unwound from the reel.

3;In roll-film developing apparatus, the combination, with a reel-support and a rewinding device, of a guide located adjacent the rewinding device and adapted to deflect the backing-strip from the film during the rewinding operation.

4. In roll-film developing apparatus,the

combination, with a reel-support and a reand constituting a receptacle to receive the leader extending from the film-strip and backing-strip and retain it While the film is adapted for attachment to the rewinding derewound. vice; and means for receiving the backing- 10 5. The combination, With a film-reel, a strip and for retaining it separate from the 5-ree1 -supp0rt, and a rewinding device, of a film-strip during the reWinding ofthe latter.

I film-strip; a backingstrip extending onlyv BENJAMIN J. NASIEF. to theadvance-end of the film-strip; a FARNUM F. DORSEY. 

